I Did It!

     Last year I decided to continue my herbal education and get my Nutritional Herbologist certificate.  I was most interested in the auto-immune disorder portion of the class.  I got hung up on one assignment and it was months before I finished the course.  I'm happy to say that I finished the class and passed the test!!!  I have loved the Herbology courses and am trying to save up enough money to take the next step or get a certification in Aromatherapy.  Essential oil are a passion of mine and I've been using them for years.  I would love to be able to teach what I know to others!

Take a Deep Breath and Relax

It's been quite a busy and mind draining week and a half.  I want to start this post with the thought: Relax, this life is a learning experience.  The hard times you are experiencing will pass.  Learn from them.  Allow your children to learn from them.

Last week I attended The Foundations of Montessori class.  I learned a lot.  Some of it wasn't what I expected to learn.  It was one of those experiences where it is clear you are in the class you are in with the people you are meant to be with at that time.  I gained some insights that I will be able to use for a long time.  I got to a point in the class that I was so emotionally overwhelmed that I felt like shutting down.  It made me realize how overwhelmed one of my children gets every day of his life!  I felt an empathy for him that I needed to feel.  I also was given a few tools to help him function from day to day.  Unfortunately, he is not ready to accept this help right now.  Hopefully we can make progress in the future.

Yesterday, I looked at another child's grades and he was getting either a D or an F in 3 of his classes.  I decided to look further in to the issue and realized that he has a serious lack of organizational skills.  It's so hard as a parent not to want to do everything it takes to help him bring his grades up.  Of course I want him to succeed.  However, I have to present the skills he needs for organization and let him practice until he finds a system that works for him.  In the long run, his grades today means nothing if he doesn't learn the skills it takes to achieve it for himself.  So I am trying to relax and allow my children to learn the lessons of life.  It's so hard to see them fail.  But isn't that how we all learning our most amazing things?  

My Story

Here is a link to part one of My Story.  The purpose is to help others understand why I have made the choice to change my eating lifestyle!

2 New Posts

I just added 2 new posts to my food blog.  One is a really good stir-fry recipe!  I thought I would also add Kellie and Karlyn's Photoshop portraits to this post.

Smoothies

One of my girls is a very picky eater.  I have found that if she makes her own lunch, she will eat it.  Well, breakfast has been a problem for a while.  I told her that if she didn't like what we were eating she could make something different for herself but wasn't allowed to complain and tantrum over it.  She made herself many a french omelet after that.  Since we bought a Blendtec, we've now introduced the family to smoothies.  She now has her own signature smoothie that she likes to make and share with the family.  An added bonus - spinach is well hidden and she will even add it herself!

Restoring the Past

My mom has been working with my grandpa on scanning old slides to put in a more usable form.  All of the slides were scanned but there was a lot of dust on the scanner and slides.  Mom and I are re-doing the scanning so the work is reduced in Photoshop.  I can't believe how fun these old photos are.  I am having a blast taking washed out photos and improving them.  It's fun to see my grandparents when they were young and my aunts and uncles as children.  I was the oldest grand daughter and so I am in quite a few of the photos as well.

                           My mom, dad, and me!

New Recipe

I added a new recipe to my food etc. site.  Creamy Broccoli Soup.  It is so yummy and full of great veggies!

My Food Blog

I have another blog that I post topics like food, herb related topics, etc.  http://whatamiuptonow.blogspot.com/
I wanted to add something here that relates to something I posted there.  My family has undergone a diet change over the last several years.  In the past two weeks we have taken it a step further.  I believe in small steps when it comes to converting children to a new way of eating.  Today, three of my children announced that they are now wanting to do P90X each day after school.  This is music to my ears.  They have loved the dietary changes (all but one child) and it's so fun to see them want to take the next step by themselves.